I know it’s been a little quiet around here lately. But I try to get out and photograph during the warmer months as much as I can while the weather is nice. It only takes a few months of getting out there with nature and I’ve got plenty to work on all winter long.

My photography search this summer has been leading me into the woods. Connecting with trees and their spirits, as they say. Dryads. Wikipedia says they are the female spirit of the trees. I’m not so sure about that but here is what I believe. If all is made up of energy (quantum physics) then why wouldn’t a tree have a spirit? I wonder, if it is made up of energy then surely they must be connected to the rest of us by way of our energy. Thus a spirit must be within these trees as well. Plants do respond to our touch. Touch one everyday and you’ll see it grow better. Yell at it and see it wilt over time. We may not be able to get a verbal response but if you look close enough you will see the response you are looking for.

Over the last few years I’ve taken up walking with my dogs, Emma and Megan through the woods at our local state park. I’ve been able to watch these trees grow as they line the winding narrow path. They’ve grown their branches towards us and stretched their roots out farther into our walkway making it so we have to slow down. Most of all, I’m beginning to see the images that are appearing within the bark of these trees and it makes me feel a happiness like a long time friend. Are these images that are appearing a way to communicate to me? I believe so.

Happy Dryads is just one of many that were photographed this summer in search of images to use in the new book I’m working on. I’m taking my time with this so don’t expect anything until next spring unless I get one of those wonderful creative pushes that usually grabs my attention and doesn’t let go until I’ve finished my project. I kinda like it when that happens. It gets rid of all those excuses for not finishing.

In Happy Dryads I’m seeing three main tree spirits. If you look a little closer you will be able to pick out the fourth smaller one located center bottom. With a little practice you may even see more.

I’ve included a second image of Happy Dryads to point out what I was looking at just in case the spirits aren’t making themselves visible to you.

“The universe is a pretty big place. If it’s just us, seems like an awful waste of space.” ― Carl Sagan, Contact

Haven’t we all at one point stopped to wonder what is really up there? Are we really alone? Do you think we will ever find any form of life? I certainly hope so. Wouldn’t that be just amazing?

I came across some beautiful pictures of Nebula, the star from the constellation Orion. There is so much about this out there. Some even say that it is the stargate to another world and that they have been here and helped us along the way. My most favorite wonderment is how all the pyramids around the world are all lined up to this. That certainly makes you wonder? What were they looking for? Or waiting for? Did our ancestors have visitors from there? Could they be what the bible says are Angels?

The possibilities are endless and I for one will keep my mind open in hopes that someday I’ll know the answers.

I absolutely love the designs in these photographs. My imagination can really run wild.

Lately I’ve had my mind on traveling. Every few years I get a little antsy, just needing some more excitement in my life and exploring is something that my husband and I truly enjoy. It gives us something to look forward to as well as something new to talk about. After 33 years of marriage, we already know how to read each others minds, so yes, we need to get out and see something other than the usual.

We are planning a trip to Ireland in 2014. I know it’s a ways off yet but we are not the types to travel with a group so we search and plan our own excursions. This brought me into looking up the Celts. And with my wandering brain the way it is, I thought about revisiting some of the places we visited a few years ago when we spent 2 weeks wandering around England. This was before my photography career and now I find I am in much need of better pictures.

Let me step back just a minute and give you a little background first. I had the luck of being born in Swindon, England. Being the third daughter of a American military family, we just so happened to be stationed there when I arrived. I didn’t get to stay very long as we were state’s side again by the time I was two. Since sisters will be sisters, and I have three, I got the honor of being teased about it my whole life. If anything I did was wrong….it was because I was born there. I learned to enbrace the teasing and made it my own. Many years later I’m finding there are coincidences and family relations that bring me back to England in every direction. And it has nothing to do with being wrong. I recently found out through Ancestry.com that my fathers side of the family, the Westcott’s, have been traced back to Westcott Manor, in Marwood England. And today’s coincidence……the writer of a book about Avebury, is William Stukely, a big possiblity to being another cousing along the ancestry line. I’m definitely have some more exploring in England to do.

I dug out some old pictures of Avebury, Wiltshire England. Jer and I visited there on our way to Swindon. We hadn’t been looking for it at the time but am forever grateful that our path brought us there. Avebury is much like the popular Stonehenge except you can walk right up to the stones. I distinctly remember reading a small sign on the unlocked farm gate that read, Please keep gate closed so the sheep don’t get out. It felt kinda like trespassing but at the same time, it felt like coming home. Avebury’s large circle of stones are on 28 acres with this very large deep ditch surrounding the entire area. You don’t realize how big these stones are until you see them in person. You just can’t help but ask that question…How did they get them there? I, like always wasn’t happy with just looking from afar, I had to touch all the stones. I took a picture of Jer by the largest stone I could find. It wasn’t until I got home did I notice that we had picked the Swindon stone. (I believe whole heartily that nothing is by coincidence.) We stayed there for quite a while after that in awe of the stones and the welcoming feeling they were emitting. I really did hate to leave.

Today I was look at this image and now I can see what else was with us. Let’s take a look. I downloaded another image from the web so I could see all of the image. Here is the before . Looks like an ordinary big rock right? Well now let’s look again.

I’ve just used a little lightening and darkening to the image so you can see what I am seeing. Kinda like burning and dodging like they used to do in the darkroom.

Do you see them now? What caught my eye first was the large profile image on the upper right, by the point. Then it continued into much more.

I really wish I had a story for all that I see here. I see a goat on the top. A girl almost center. She is above the horse or donkey looking to the left. Along the whole right side are 5 faces as if they are watching who exits the north entrance. On the left I see another large face behind the horse and what looks like a cat yawning towards the bottom.

What a great story this rock could tell!

Don’t be afraid to play the game. Let that inner child out to play. Have fun.

Do you really know what lives in the water? At first glance you will get the usual, sandy bottom with a few plants flowing and waving in the current. If you’re lucky you’ll even get a few fish to swim by. But I’m talking about something beyond the usual. Beyond the surface of obvious. Let’s take a look. This first image is from a Thermal stream in Thermopolis, Wyoming. We had stayed there on one of our car driving trips. My first thought was, “How could these plants survive in the steady stream of hot sulfer water?” These plants have somehow learned to adapt in a way I could not have imagined. And that is not to mention the smaller life forms that we can not see with the naked eye.

When I got home and had time to study them is when I noticed the pure natural artistry I had captured. Does the water contain something more? Was it my imagination or is there something more in our waters that we have just not discoved as of yet? What’s in your water?

This image was taken while walking the beach at Surfers Paradise in Australia. It’s amazing how the sands of beaches around the world are so different. Up until this day I would have thought that all waves produced the same sand designs. Our Great Lakes seem like oceans to us who live in Michigan, USA but without the extreme waves and tides.

Here are the before and after images of Geese Spirits. Natures designs are amazing, aren’t they??!!

Often people will send me images of things to see what I see. This one came to me compliments of Kevin from San Antonio, Texas. His family was visiting the Alamo when they saw this tree and thought it would be a good one for me to investigate. Well, you did find something and here it is! Looks like a little troll.

If you have any to share you may send them to me at annlauwers@anartistview.net

You just never know what you are going to find within water.At this part of the river, you could easily stand there and imagin the bears coming along and fishing for their breakfast. Although I like the bears, I really don’t want to encounter them. I was very thankful there weren’t there. Until…..I noticed something more…….The bears spirit hangs in that bend. If you take your attention off the water and look at the rock you will see what I mean. I enhanced the areas that I’m seeing so you may see the same. Do you see it now?

Recently I started reading a book titled Earth Magic by Steven D. Farmer. It’s about ancient Shamanic wisdom. I read something that really intrigues me. Steven writes, (and I’ve heard this before) that the fundamentals of Shamanism can be found though out many Indigenous cultures, even though these cultures have never made contact with one another. I’ve been tumbling this statement in my head for days now. That would mean that we would there is a connective energy in order for people from around the world to come up with a common thought. Right off the bat, I’m thinking….”so that would mean, if I think of something funny and laugh…..then is my essence of happiness sending out vibes and making someone else happy? Around the world, imagine that.

He goes on to say it’s through our senses, including our sixth sense, which nature communicates with us in each and every moment, both in form and spirit. Our job is to open our senses to see, hear and feel so that we can be guided by her promptings. Now with this in mind, it leads me to believe that if the communication between us is mainly through the energies that surround us, then surely everything in nature is picking up on it as well. Have you ever watched the movie “What the Bleep?” It’s a film about Quantum Physics. It’s very interesting and mind bending. There is a short segment in it that shows ice crystals being formed and how much more beautiful they are if you talk to them. Astonishing!

So if it’s has been proven that you can stimulate your plants with talking and touching they will grow bigger and stronger. Then would it make sense that nature could be doing the same to us? Could they be sending out their vibes and we are missing it? Did our ancestors communicate with nature? According to their belief systems they did. They had a name for every spirit or God in their lives. Could they feel the energies within everything they came in contact with? Like in the song Colors of the Wind.

The rainstorm and the river are my brothers.

The heron and the otter are my friends

And we are all connected to each other

In a circle, in a hoop that never ends.

Think of these things the next time you are out in nature.

Then keep your eyes open and your heart full of love and the magic will appear.

About Tree Gremlins

I discovered Tree Gremlins standing just outside the family room of a local mansion. As old as it is, I wonder what kind of things it has seen and felt around the families and children that lived there. To me it looks like it has been very happy. The one thing to remember with tree spirits is that they don’t stay forever. With every years growth, old spirits leave and new one get a chance to shine. Sit with a tree today. Who knows what you’ll discover.

When was the last time you really connected with nature? And I’m not talking about tree hugging although I’ve been known to every now and then. I’m talking about shutting off the computer, TV, ipods, cell phones and any other electronic device. Pretty scarry thought, huh?

I’m one of those fortunetly enough to remember when we didn’t have any of these wonderful things. As a kid, it was time to come in from playing when the sun went down. If you were lucky, you had a watch but you only wore it to school or church because you were afraid to break it while out playing. No Ipods either. That just meant that we sang and if we didn’t know the lyrics, we just made them up as we went. Don’t get me wrong, I love my computer, the internet and I wouldn’t want to live without it. They have spoiled me with the wealth of knowledge and the ease of connecting with others around the world.

I was thinking about this the other day as I was walking my dogs at the local state park. If I were on the computer, look what I would be missing.

The new grasses emerging after the long winter.

Lilies on the lake

A slow walk with a friend.

Or the sweet music of the birds.

Every now and then, you need to disconnect and reconnect with Nature. You wouldn’t want to miss the show.